Warriors: The Outsiders
by Swift Rising
Summary: The clans often say there is nothing worse than living in the midst of a war. They're wrong. There's nothing worse than living on the edge of a war that you didn't even cause. A war that breaks everything you know, everything you'd learned to love, though at the same time remaining presumably impossible to win. My name is Jay, and I am an Outsider.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Like Fire

Jay drew a deep breath in, staring at the clear, starry sky.

"They're perfect, aren't they?" He meowed softly, back pressed against the frosty ground. "Just... perfect."

Winter paced before the crackling fire, casting a quick amber eyed glance at the tom. She breathed, the icy air making her teeth chatter.

"Why do they even matter?" She looked up at the sky, which was stained a mesmerizing indigo as the sun disappeared below the snowy peaks. The rich clumps of evergreen trees cast shadows against the powdery hills, which reflected the sky with an eerie glow.

Jay lifted his head, eyes narrowed at the she-cat. He wore a clear, smoldering gray gaze framed by the rich, gray-blue tabby stripes that traced his otherwise frosty white fur. He smirked and laid his head back down, feeling the chills instantly.

"Winter, you seem to so easily forget how wonderful the world we live in is." He sighed, watching the clouds trace the early winter sky. The stars appeared in his round gaze, pupils zeroing in on each on for moments at a time.

Winter frowned, and turned from the fire. She stared at the tom, folding her tail over her rusty brown paws. Her eyes were deep amber, intense and intimidating.

"If the world were wonderful, Jay-" She paused, with a flick of her tall, tufted ears. "Then you would shut up."

Jay laughed, standing and shaking the snowy powder from his thick blue and white pelt. He looked into the flames, and then at her.

"Ah, then I suppose it isn't wonderful." He nudged her, drawing a smile across her face. "It's more than that."

The snowy white she-cat shrugged, moving closer to the fire. She was evidently shivering, as was Jay. His thick tabby fur stood on end, and he looked over the empty hillside that lay across from their base. With every moment that passed, other cats could be getting closer to their small horde. The fire was a dead giveaway, but certainly vital to keeping warm.

"I can feeling the temperature dropping as we speak..." Winter looked at him, her voice riddled with the chattering of her teeth. Jay himself, shuffled inwards.

"Shall I take the evening guard?" The tom meowed, standing suddenly. The quickness of his action made Winter flinch, as the orange light illuminated her fur. It was a thick white color, and the rusty stripes that traced her shoulders and spine matched the shade of her paws. She nodded, numbly and wrapped her thick tail around her waist.

"Really?" She narrowed her eyes, which glowed like bright amber moons. "You took it last night..."

Jay chuckled. "Think I'm sleeping on a night like this?" He looked up at the sky again. "Come on, Winter, we've known each other since we were six moons old. Do you know me at all?"

She rolled her eyes. "An entire kithood and not once did you cease to annoy me." She added.

They both managed quick, uncertain laughs and Jay padded towards the pathetic camp they'd managed a few nights ago. It consisted of a wide, flat rocky that stuck crookedly from the ground in a rough triangle shape. They'd laid evergreen bows against either side, leaving a single gap at the front. With in the den, which was surprisingly roomy, they'd dug out by paw enough dirt to strengthen the base and widen the interior.

The fire was no less than two tail lengths away from the base, and the light reflected warmly on the old rusty mask. It was rudimentary, really. He'd seized it from a battle ground a few moons ago, and it still seemed to make do. Obviously it was made to fit a cat much older and larger than himself, as he wore it awkwardly.

He frowned, sliding the rusty plate over his wide muzzle, and gripping the jaw strap uncomfortably. He blinked, staring at the grounds before him through the eye slit. It smelled like old bronze, which was the most readily available metal in this area. No wonder those spoiled clan cats had left it behind. He too, placed the battle armour down once again.

"Night," Winter padded up to the tom, nudging him softly. The tension between the two was evident, it had been since this all started. Since leaf-bare had hit and with it, war.

The clans often said there was nothing worse than living in the midst of a war. They were wrong.

There was nothing worse than living on the edge of a war that you hadn't even caused.

A war that breaks everything you know, everything you'd learned to love, though at the same time remaining presumably impossible to win.

"I'll wake you at midnight." He yawned, and settled in front of the fire once again. Winter padded into the fairly warm den, laying down in her nest. Not sleeping.

Fearing.

Jay groomed his paws, which tasted like blood and ice. His fur held the same smell constantly, merged with the more peaceful aroma of cedar needles and smoke. It was uncomfortable, being seated upon the hard patch of ground they'd cleared. There wasn't much snow, but the flakes that had fallen promised more. The distant sky was filled with clouds, and dark ones at that.

Leaf-bare could only grow harder.

The blue-gray tabby ran his rough, sandpaper tongue over his paws once again, matting down the frosty tendrils of fur. He ran his paw over his forehead, grooming that too. Then he watched the flame, the way it crackled and burned. It was almost as powerful as the beauty of the sky, in his mind. Though not as flawless.

Nature was a pristine, indefinite scape of untouched land. Fire... well, fire was different.

It could be the key to survival. It could be the warmth that kept a life lingering on the face of the planet for even a moment longer.

At the same time, it would singe you of soul and body.

Jay flinched at the thought, and despite the cold, he moved backwards.

Like the season, Jay was young. Like he should have been, he was afraid.

Winter. She was different. Like fire. Different in a way that made the insightful tom even more afraid. For her, most definitely.

Winter didn't see the beauty in everything around her. She viewed the world through the eyes of a fighter, and nothing more. Everything was about strategy. Survival.

How he wished she'd, just for once, lay next to him and dream.

But his life long friend didn't exactly think of him that way.

At least, that is what he assumed.

Jay blinked once, his smoldering gray eyes. He watched the smoke pool in the sky, and dreamed of the day things would be different.

Different like winter.

Different like fire.

OOO


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Midnight

Jay breathed another puff of dry, icy air. It trailed from his muzzle in puffs of cloudy mist, reminding him of the smoke that trailed from the fire. It had died down, and surely wouldn't last much longer.

The frosty-blue tabby heaved, exhausted from pacing back an forth upon the round hillside. Winter lay asleep, in the den, with only a tattered rabbit pelt for warmth. He sighed, grabbing a mouthful of kindling from behind the shelter.

He bit down, padding towards the fire and carefully placing each stick among the embers. They lit, for moments, and then hissed, spurting sparks. Some of them clung to his fur, sending tingles up his spine.

Don't die. He pleaded softly to himself. Don't. Die.

The fire crackled, and he lay a larger stick upon the flames. It caught, snapping.

He sighed with relief, watching the clearing light up once again. Fire was impossible to gather these days. With only a small, worn piece of flint left, himself and Winter had needed to be resourceful.

He yawned, watching the sky. The stars. The moon.

Then it hit him. The moon was at its peak. Midnight. It was time to wake up Winter.

Now part of jay wanted to stay awake, and let the hard working cat rest. On the other paw, he was exhausted, and if she found out that he'd done all of the work she's surely flay him alive.

He turned, shivering and glanced at the pathetic den. He padded through the dusty snow, peaking his head inside. Winter lay with her paws curled over her muzzle, eyes shut tight. Her ears were pressed back against her head, and her rusty tabby stripes glowed copper in the firelight. He blinked, feeling guilty as he prodded her side.

"Winter," He meowed in her ear, breath tingling her skin.

The she cat blinked, amber eyes full of sleep. She smacked her lips and rolled over.

"Not already..." She yawned, and stared up at the sky through the cedar bows. "Darn. I was dreaming about..." She yawned again. "Summer."

Jay laughed, his gray eyes lit up charmingly. "Aren't we all?"

The she-cat smiled and turned over again, uneasily getting to her paws. "Alright," She shook the stale moss bedding from her fur. "Midnight watch."

She flicked the tom over the shoulder with her tail. "See you in the morning, bud."

Jay tried to suppress a purr as he padded across the shelter, laying in his uncomfortable nest. It didn't matter though. as he was more exhausted than he had felt in a long time.

The tom wrapped his tail around his haunches, and watched Winter's compact shadow trace the flames. He yawned, closing his eyes and falling into the usual dreamless sleep.

OOO

Winter narrowed her eyes and looked up at the fire. The snowy, pine covered plains for any sign of movement. She looked back at where Jay had settled, and then drew her gaze across his blue-gray pelt. It shimmered, icily in the moonlight, combined with the flickering fire. She breathed, dragging her eyes away from the attractive tom.

She kneaded her paws and felt a sudden pang of hunger. The craving for nutrients coursed like an animal instinct through her, and she rose to her paws.

For a moment, she was temped to go and ask Jay if he'd buried anything. Then she shook the thought off. The tom gave her enough. Like his perpetual crush wasn't bad enough, he seemed to constantly try and make her life easier. He'd do anything for her.

Winter looked at her rusty, almost scarlet paws, and then spotted her reflection in the few non-rusty spots in the pair of battle masks. She was short, broad headed, with strong haunches that gave her an awkward, tom like appearance. The stripes along her shoulders were ugly, and reminded her of the scar that traced the skin from below her eye to her jaw. Her snowy fur was riddled with the stripes, prominent and coppery red. Her tail was long and furry, and tipped with the same color. She was a young cat, but hardly beautiful.

Why would any tom ever love her the way Jay did?

Winter shook off the annoying she-cat instinct to be self conscious, and went back to searching for food. She opened her mount, scenting the air through picking up nothing. She was a fool to believe that any creature would be out in this weather.

She traced the hillside, leaving delicate footprints below the darkened sky. Her tail moved back and forth, brushing up the silvery powder. The wind had picked up, and tugged at her fur. Her teeth chattered, as she fought the force.

The first flake fell and landed perfectly on her nose. She crossed her eyes, staring at it for a moment. It melted, she she looked in the direction it had flown from.

The flakes fell gradually faster and in greater quantities in the minutes to come. She hadn't gone far from the base, but it was a struggle to pad back up the hill. She fought the wind, which blew directly in her face.

When she got to the top, the fire sputtered and hissed. She gasped, and immediately stood in front of it. The light it was giving off slowly faded away, gradually growing cooler. Soon enough, her fur was racked with chills and her eyes were wide with disappointment.

"No..." She meowed, pawing at the now icy coals. She growled and kicked one across the clearing, watching it hiss and sink into the snow bank.

Now she had nothing but the moon.

Winter shook out the snow that clung to her fur, eyes round with fear. She bounded over to the shelter, frantically lifting up at flat stone next to it. They'd hollowed out the ground beneath it, making it perfect to hide things.

The contents of the hollow was sparse. A pair of rusty bronzed battle claws, a small collection of dried out herbs, a pawful of wild berries, a sinewy snowshoe hare pelt and a single piece of flint.

She pondered. It was start a fire now, and keep it going all night or wait until morning and risk, well, dying.

Without thinking, Winter picked up the pathetic shard and bounced over to the still warm collection of coals. She lay the flint down next to it, and unsheathed her claws.

She ran her right set of claws over the stone and watched the sparks light up in the air. They landed in the coals. Nothing.

She turned and looked for fire wood, but none remained. Jay must have used it to keep it going. She tried three more times to light the ashen coals, but failed.

"Ugh..." She dug her thick claws into the ground, angrily drawing then through the snowy earth. She tossed the useless flint aside, and checked both sides of the hill again.

She had to last until morning.

Winter shook out her fur, looking up at the moon. She looked around their small camp, from the fire pit to the shelter, and then the path that lead to Ridgeclan territory. There was yowling, somewhere in that collection of rocky, pine cover plains. Probably one of their battles for territory.

Anger boiling in her chest, she shouted into the open woodland.

"You've got more than enough territory!" She growled, doubting anyone heard her.

She turned back towards the camp, and saw Jay's head sticking up. His gray eyes glowed in the moonlight, though they looked tired.

Winter guilty flattened her ears against her head, and padded towards the den.

"Jay, did I wake you...?" She mumbled, and Jay shook his head.

She cocked her head. "Then how..." She began, but the tom cut her off.

"I've been awake the whole time." He replied, poking his head through the entrance of the den.

Winter cringed. "I'm sorry I let the fire die." She looked at her paws.

Jay narrowed his eyes. "Why are you apologizing?" He meowed, smiling.

"Because I just destroyed every chance we had at survival. How are we supposed to keep warm?" She spat, annoyed at how stupid he was acting.

Jay backed into the nest, whiskers twitching.

"What?" Winter raised her voice.

Jay motioned to her with his tail, and blinked.

"Come lay with me, Winter." He meowed.

The brown and white tabby paused, and felt her ears grow hot. She managed a quick nod, and padding into the den.

"Only tonight, Jay." She muttered, but couldn't help but smile.

The tom curled his tail over his paws, and lay his head down on the edge of his nest. "That's good enough for me."

Winter lay next to him, their pelts barely brushing. She yawned, and before falling asleep, she felt her paw drawn to his.

At least tonight, she was warm.

OOO


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

It wasn't until morning that Jay realised they'd left the base unattended.

The orangey dawn light seeped through the branches, which were covered in a new layer of snow. Jay opened his eyes, feeling Winter's warm breath against his cheek.

He stared at the sleeping she-cat, who was curled against his side, her paws wrapped around his left foreleg. He turned over, and with a flinch, realised no cat had been on midnight guard.

Trying not to wake her, he stood up and pushed out of the den. He glanced around, checking to see if anything was missing. He did a mental inventory.

Battle masks. Claws. Pelt. Herbs. Berries.

Where was the flint?

He looked through the den and the hollow, frantically searching.

Then he stopped in his tracks. Winter had used the flint last night.

He sighed, half relieved and half disappointed that they would need to find another source of fire. He watched the sun brush the face of the eastern mountains, and was momentarily in awe of the way they looked. If only some cat noticed.

The tall tom paced, as if to wait for Winter to get up. In the mean time, he padded down the hill and crossed the usually grassy field. He might as well catch something to eat, as they'd ran out early yesterday.

He padded in a loose limbed trot, the light dappling his fur through the needles of the trees. He breathed in the morning air, checking for any scent of prey.

He picked up the faint trace of cardinal, and perked his ears. He searched the trees, each branch and then the ground. He couldn't hear anything, but he was sure that the bird was around here somewhere.

Jay dashed quietly, almost unnoticeably through the snow. He felt the powder shower down on him from the trees, and looked up. The bright red creature bounced from branch to branch above his head, quietly chirping as it went.

He licked his lips, and took to gradually climbing one of the trees. It was wide, and crooked, making it easy for him to pad up to the same height as the bird. He breathed in its scent, and imagined its tasty meat in his jaws.

He unsheathed his claws, nimbly walking across the branch. He kept his eyes on the prey, which hadn't noticed him yet. The tom hit the weaker part of the branch, and decided not to walk any farther.

His pelt made for easy hunting in the winter, as the blue's grays, silvers and whites were the main shades that traced the leaf-bare landscape. He watched the cardinal float to a lower branch, and ceased his chance to spring.

His narrow shoulder's rippling, Jay caught the air and listened to the frantic caw of the red feathered bird. It took to the sky, but he swiped mid air and forced it down. The smell of blood lingered in the air, as he landed on the ground and killed the bird in a flurry of scarlet feathers.

He smiled, satisfied with his work. Grasping the catch in his jaws, his headed for camp.

As he broke through the tree line, there was a growl and a sudden weight on the lean tom's back.

He grunted and hissed in pain when claws jabbed into his shoulders.

"You know, that bird belongs to Ridgeclan." He heard a male voice mutter. He looked left, and saw a large brown tabby tom staring his straight in the eyes. His were green, like emeralds, and his pale tabby fur was stained with red battle paint. he growled, and the weight lifted from Jay's back.

A lean muscled, pale brown she-cat a appeared in his view, frowning. She was pretty, with dark brown paws and eerie blue eyes. She hissed.

"And that means your gonna give to back, loner." She spat, as if bile bubbled in her throat. She dashed towards him, staring him right in the eyes. "Got it?"

Jay sat up, curling his tail over his paws. Maybe he could reason with these cats.

With the cardinal still in his jaws, he shook his head.

The tom scowled and advanced on him. The pretty she cat lashed her tail, as if to order the bulky tom to stay back.

"Now, dear, you are going to give us the prey or I will let my partner here give you a nice..." She paused, whiskers twitching. "Beating."

Jay narrowed his eyes, and unsheathed his claws. He'd do anything for a meal, and he knew WInter was the same way. He breathed in the smell of the fresh kill, and backed up.

"Great starclan, you're stubborn." The she-cat hissed. She lifted a paw, and struck him on the side of the muzzle. Scarlet blood pooled on his frosty blue-gray fur, and when he opened his mouth, he tasted the tangy copper liquid.

That being his breaking point, Jay lept upwards, clawing at the she-cat delicate ears. She yowled and Jay earned himself another blow across the cheek. He fell backwards, and the tom towered over him, batting him over the side.

Jay looked up, and saw the tom pick up his catch in his jaws. He hissed, bounding after the pair.

"You lousy piece of..." The tom began to shout as Jay ran his claws over his spine. There was a sudden flash of white and rusty brown fur, and a pair of menacing amber eyes glimmered in the dawn light.

Winter frowned. "Jay, get off of that cat." She meowed, eyes narrowed.

Jay heaved, and fell to the ground. His climbed to his paws, and Winter smiled.

"Thanks." She meowed as she bounded towards the tom growling and lashing at his eyes.

Jay watched as she tore mercilessly through the tom's skin, as the other she-cat tried to hold her back. There was a loud thump, and Winter lay on the ground, the fresh kill in her jaws.

The two clan cats scowled. "We see any more of you and we're bringing our entire clan." She growled, and Jay padded over to where Winter lay.

The tom was mumbling in pain, as the two padded back towards their territory.

Jay stared down at the she-cat, when spat out the prey. She rose from the pool of her own blood, and ran her tongue through her now messy fur.

"You know I didn't need food that badly." Jay muttered, staring at the sizable gash on her shoulder.

Winter looked up at him, the pain in her eyes fading away. "You're wrong. We don't eat, we don't live."

She looked over the lean tom, at his visible rib cage and prominent jaw bones.

"We're skin and bones..." She muttered, shaking the snow from her fur and picking up the bird. "Let's get back to camp."

She padded ahead of him, tail lashing in annoyance. Jay frowned, and followed the she-cat.

How long would it even be worth it?

OOO

Winter sighed, grooming the matted blood from her pelt. It wasn't the smell of her blood that bothered her, really. She didn't mind her fur being messy, as her paws were set on a path that allowed little time for preening. Instead, her nostrils flared at she smell of Jay's pelt. The cedar, snowy, smokey scent that made her weak on her paws.

The feeling of his flank against hers flashed in her mind, making his distracted. She shook her head, guilty about it all. She didn't love him.

Though the physical urge was nearly impossible to resist.

As for the cardinal, it lay limp in the center of their base clearing, just waiting to be eaten. Her mouth watered at the thought of eating it. Jay padded up the hillside, a mouthful of bedding in his jaws.

He set it down, lean muscles rippling. He sat down, and cocked his head.

"You want the first bite?" He meowed, flicking the red-feathered wing with his paw.

"Sure." Winter padded forward, through the new-fallen snow. She took a large, juicy bite of the meat and swallowed.

Jay followed, and before the two knew it, the prey was gone. She sighed, hardly feeling full.

"That's as good as it gets, my friend." Jay sat back, licking the blood from his lips.

Winter sighed, laughing. "I'm not complaining."

There was an awkward silence between the two, and Jay's eyes met hers. Winter looked down, muscles tense. She shook her head again, and looked at the bedding.

"Uh, here..." She stood up, making her way to the den. "I'll uh, clear out the old stuff."  
Jay's eyes were not pried from her fur, as he nodded. "Sure." He meowed. "Thanks."

Winter turned, eyes fixed on her paws.

"No problem." She replied, though she feared that a problem surely was in existence.

One that had nothing to od with the war.

OOO


End file.
